Love Unexpected
by tokwatbaboy
Summary: Lexie Grey had enough with her families intrusion on her personal love life. Mother, father and siblings included have all gone above and beyond the call of duty to try and get her hitched to a man. Just how far is Lexie willing to go to stop the incessant meddling?
1. Chapter 1

I'm Asian, so if you feel you have the need to mock my English skills, do realize that English is not my native language.

* * *

Lexie gawked at the excessively decorated wedding invitation that sat perfectly isolated centered on her desk. It was as if it was mocking her; taunting her with its fanciful, silver writing embellished on the front. That separated invitation served as a reminder of the one thing she didn't have, the one thing she wasn't sure she even desired to have and the one thing that her younger sister Molly was apparently now getting; a husband.

Lexie Grey, thirthy years of age is the only one left, yet to be hitched among her sisters. Her family members made it their personal sanction in life to point out that obvious fact. Lexie's mother, Susan, so sweet in her maternal nature, had worked diligently to set her up on countless blind dates that turned out to be one astronomical disaster after the other. Susan Grey always looked so exceedingly hopeful whenever she told her daughter about the newest beau that she prearranged her daughter to go out with. But Lexie just couldn't find it within herself to disappoint her mother by telling her ' _NO_ '.

Then there was her father, Thatcher Grey, the Ex-Navy Seal who was consistently inviting one of his poker buddies over with their presumed available sons. She was skeptical regarding the timing of her father's poker setup time so conveniently planned around the same time she usually stopped by her parent's home for a Sunday afternoon luncheon visit.

Lexie tried on several different occasions to talk to her father about these visits but he refused to hear any of it. Thatcher Grey was a stern man, still extremely fit for his sixty-five years of age and effortlessly able to wave off any of her protests with one steely look. And if that wasn't enough, her older sister, Meredith Grey, had recently jumped on the _'find-a-husband-for-Lexie'_ bandwagon.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Lexie slumped in her chair and sulked. She couldn't understand why it was so important to her family that she has a husband. Yes, this was the prime time of her life but she was happy with the way things were currently going. Lexie worked hard to get to where she was at today and she did it all without the aid of any man. She didn't need a man then and she most certainly didn't need a man now.

* * *

"I have caffeine," April announced cheerfully as she waltzed into the nurse's station with two Starbucks cups in her hands. April was Lexie's best friend. She's also a surgeon at SGMW. April Kepner was also smart as a whip when it came to traumas. Some people find her annoying mainly because of her high pitch voice but she seems to have more confidence in herself and her abilities.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Lexie breathed out while she took one of the coffee filled plastic cups from her. "You just don't know how bad I need this right now."

Slowly, she brought the rim of the cup to her lips and clutched it carefully as she blew away the rising steam.

April took a quick glance at her crestfallen expression and immediately knew something was up. "Uh oh. Which one was it and what did they do this time?"

April and Lexie had been friends since their internship and she'd met all of the Grey clan on one occasion or another. Over the years she heard about each and every one of their setups, hookups and mess ups. She had an inkling that Lexie's mood, more than likely, had something to do with one of them.

Lexie let out a not so humorous chuckle. "You know me all too well. This—" she noted and pull something from her lab coat, pointing at the cursed invitation. "Is the problem?"

April grabbed the card that she was referring to. She ran her fingers over the embossed lettering and softly muttered, "Impressive." She opened up the invitation and began to read. It was an invitation to Molly Grey- Eric Thompson's wedding. Molly is the baby of the Grey siblings. April's eyes widened when she realized that the wedding was going to be held in Hawaii in just two weeks' time.

"You lucky bi-otch!" April exclaimed tossing the invitation back at her. "You're going to Hawaii and you're complaining, why?" This is a vacation in paradise. She was failing to see exactly what Lexie Grey's problem was.

Lexie rolled her eyes and carefully set her cup of coffee down on the edge of the desk. "If you want to go so badly, then be my guest," Lexie stated seriously. "I'll gladly give you my ticket!" Slowly, Lexie exhaled. She was frustrated because she anticipated what would happen in Hawaii and she really did not want to have to deal with it. "You know how my family is, April. They won't ease up on me just because Molly is getting married. If anything, they are all going to be even more insistent."

"Ah," April nodded, understanding the problem now. "This is about the _'find-a-husband-for-Lexie'_ campaign," she said, shaking her head and laughing.

Lexie glanced over her shoulder and glared back at her friend. "It's not funny. They all have their own families to deal with. Why is it that they all feel the need to stick their noses in my business? Can't they see how happy I am now?"

April had to work to hide her smile but she understood what Lexie was telling her. Lexie's family had proven to be relentless in their efforts to tie her to a man. April sat her cup down and tried empathizing to reassure her. .

"It can't be that bad. This is Hawaii for crying out loud. Beautiful sunsets, exotic flowers, men with bodies made of pure sin walking the beaches…."

Any hope that April had at coaxing a smile from Lexie quickly dwindled when she found herself on the receiving end of a peeved glare.

"Not you too?" Lexie groaned. April held up her hands in surrender.

"Just saying," she replied innocently. "I'm not telling you to go out there and marry the first guy you see. I'm just telling you that you should loosen up a bit. Why don't you let your hair down and open yourself up to some other possibilities?"

Lexie turned and walked away, stomping every step of the way. She didn't want to open herself up to any possibilities. She was happy just the way she was. "It's going to be a week of torture."

"Well geez, Lexie, the way you talk, it sounds like your being shipped off to some sort of torture camp. It's just a wedding. Your baby sister's wedding at that! If the family gets to you that bad then why not just find some random guy and pretend that you're with him? As in, seriously with him. Maybe even tell them you pulled a Vegas trip and got married. I bet that they'll leave you alone then."

April wasn't really being serious. She was only trying to show Lexie that she was being downright petty about the whole situation. At least she had a family that cared about her enough to want to see her happy, even if their definition of happy was slightly different than her own.

"What did you just say?" Lexie's mind was already racing thoughts. April just might be on to something there. "Rent-a-husband? It's perfect!"

"What do you mean, what did I say?" When she glanced up, April eyed Lexie carefully. She had seen that look before. The fixated look that says she's thinking about something. That same intensified look that says the wheels in her head turning and her mind mulling over something that's absolutely crazy.

Then she remembered what she said and it all clicked. "You can't be seriously considering what I just said?" April looked completely horror-stricken that Lexie would even go there. When she didn't immediately respond to her question, April walked in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her so that they were face to face. "Lexie, please tell me you're not really thinking about going out and finding an impromptu husband?"

Lexie looked up at April and blinked a few times. That was exactly what she was thinking. "Why not? It seems like the perfect solution."

"What guy would you even consider going along with something like this? No self-respecting man is going to play hubby for a week and not expect anything in return."

Lexie furrowed her brows in concentration. Taking a step back and pulling away from April.

"I can pay him," she spoke aloud. She was considering the possibilities from every possible angle that she could imagine. "I have the money and my family would be thrilled to see me with a man." She turned back around and shrugged. "So why not? I could tell them we did one of those quickie drives by ceremonies in Vegas like you mentioned and none of them would be less desirable. All their attention would keep focused on Molly's wedding instead of me. The poor single doctor whom can't seem to find a guy that wants to spend the rest of his natural born life with her. It makes perfect sense to me."

April was speechless. She stood rooted in her spot. "You're one crazy lady Lexie Grey, if that's what you think. You have finally lost every marble in that tiny head of yours. Again, I'm going to ask you – who in the world would you get to do something like this and then pull it off successfully in front of your very distinguishable family?"

"Good morning ladies!"

Mark Sloan suddenly came out from the on-call room and grinned widely at them. When neither of them said a word he simply nodded to them both then walked away.

April turned around and looked at Lexie who had that starry look in her eyes. "No," she told her, horrified that she would even consider a guy like Sloan.

"Yes. He's perfect." Lexie replied knowingly.

"No, you can't. It's not right." April insisted.

Mark Sloan was the type of man that was all business when it came to the OR but outside of OR he was the ultimate manwhore. The guy came to work on most days smelling different perfume and on the others he carried with him the telltale signs of lunchtime quickies with the evidence of leftover lipstick staining his starched navy blue scrubs.

"He's perfect. He's a good-looking man and there will be zero chance of us ever really hooking up. I can offer him an unforgettable, sensational trip to Hawaii; for that one week, at least, my family will be off my back. It's a win-win situation. Everyone will be happy."

April closed her eyes for a minute wanting to shake some sense into Lexie. She could see that she was dead set on this new plan of hers. She could see it in her eyes. Going off past experience, there was nothing she could say that would change her mind. Lexie was stubborn like that. When she was set on something; nothing and no one would be able to stand in her way.

"You are asking for a world of trouble," April cautioned her as she started to back herself towards the pit. She pointed her finger at Lexie and narrowed her eyes. "Don't let it go unsaid that I didn't warn you, Lexie Grey."

Lexie gave her friend an honest smile.

"Don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing," she assured her as she continue to walk. She had dallied long enough and now it was time for her to get some real work done. She felt a hundred times better since she had come up with a plan of action to ward off her family's attempts at setting her up with another blind date disaster. "Just watch." her pager starts to ring off and muttered to herself, "You'll see."

* * *

Let me know what you think..


	2. Chapter 2

Lexie had been working nonstop all morning. She surfaced through a total of five emergency cases due to the massive car crash. Lexie was rubbing at her temples in an effort to ward off an impending headache when the sound of her cell phone started to go off in her pocket. She reached for the phone and brought it to her ear.

"Lexie Grey," she quipped.

"Lex, how's it going?" her not so cheery sister, Meredith blurted out.

"Fine, Mer. How are you?" she answered back. Meredith was the oldest of the Grey siblings and was the first of them to get married. She was head over heels in love with a very handsome Derek Shepherd, a well-known neurosurgeon.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," she replied as she intently listened to the sound of children's laughter in the background. Meredith and Derek had three kids, they were Lexie's little bundles of sunshine. She loved her niece and nephew more than anything in the world. They are currently living in Boston and working at Mass Gen.

"I just want to check up on you. And I wanted to talk to you about Molly's wedding and some other details about the trip to Hawaii."

Really meaning, that you wanted to try and hook me up with another one of your friends, Lexie thought to herself. No thank you! Been there and done that. Her sister's efforts were just about as fruitless as the rest of the family's. The last blind date Meredith arranged, he chattered nonstop and not in a good way either.

Lexie knew of polite dinner conversation and on many occasions actually enjoyed it herself, but Justin Howard took that concept to a whole other level. He not only talked through the whole date, he monopolized the conversation by telling Lexie too much personal information about himself that she cared less to hear. He went so far as to tell her about _'Mr. Winkles'_. That did it! That was the final straw that broke the camel's back. In the middle of dinner, Lexie considered their conversation immediately over. She didn't even respond to him, she just stood up and walked away, never once looking back. Any man who had the audacity to talk about his personal body parts on a first date, even going as far as naming them, was a no-go in her book.

"So Mer, I'm kind of busy today and there's something I need to catch up," Lexie answered her while thinking about her plan and Mark Sloan. She could probably catch him on a lunch break and make her proposal to him then. The sooner the better because if she didn't come up with something fast, there would be no way to deter her family and whatever cockamamie plan they were in the midst of cooking up.

"Okay, so I'll call you later then," Meredith affirmed.

"Alright, say hi to the kids for me," she said glancing at her watch.

Lexie hung up the phone and now, all she had to do was convince the very egotistical Mark Sloan just how perfect it really was.

Lexie walked up the steps of the hospital. Lexie had come here today on a mission; a mission that involved Mark Sloan, and she was poised to complete her mission.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Grey," Chief Webber said in passing.

"Good afternoon, Chief," she answered back with an award-winning smile.

The chief stopped and talked to her about a patient.

"That's good to hear," Lexie replied back honestly.

When she spotted Mark Sloan stepping out of the OR. Her mind shifted gears while she watched him.

"If you'll please excuse me, Chief, the person I came to see just appeared," she said to him not taking her eyes off of Mark. The Chief chuckled when he saw who Lexie Grey was looking at.

"Mark Sloan, huh? It's about time the two of you got together." Lexie turned around to look at the Chief with wide eyes.

"Oh no," she said too quickly. "It's not like that, I mean we're not together like that or anything. I just want to see him for a c-consult.. for my patient," she stumbled out. The Chief only gave her a knowing look.

"Run along Dr. Grey, I would hate to be the one to detain you".

Lexie started to protest once again. She didn't want the Chief to have the wrong impression but instead he turned and she was left watching his retreating back, feeling dumbstruck in what would make him think that Mark and I would ever fit together? That was just plain madness, she mused. Turning back around to where she had last seen Mark Sloan, she cursed aloud an unladylike explicate remark. He wasn't there.

"Where could that man have run off to so quickly?" she muttered, while briskly making her way through the hallway. She really needed to speak with him.

Lexie initiated her quest for Mark Sloan by looking in all of the rooms and that was now seemingly empty. Nothing. Not one sign of him. She scurried by several of the nurse's station in hopes he stopped by there to talk with someone, but nowhere was he found. She raced up and down every hall and concluded that he had just vanished. Somehow, Dr. Sloan had managed to disappear right from under her nose.

With only thirty minutes left of her break, Lexie started heading towards the deli, just a few blocks down the street, to grab a salad before heading back to the hospital. Mark would surely be heading back to there sometime today and when he did, she would sit him down and give him her proposition.

Feeling a little ragged from the first half of the day's events, Lexie deliberately took time walking down the street. She was entranced by soaking up the sun's warmth on her face and took pleasure, in drawing deep breaths of fresh air into her lungs. The outside atmosphere of harmony and pleasantry was simply contagious. Lexie was still looking upward when she, not so gracefully, rammed into something hard, or rather someone with a body that felt like a brick.

After stumbling and almost losing her balance she started to apologize profusely, "I'm so sorry, I should have been watching, I should have been looking out…"

A familiar laugh caught her by surprise. Straightening herself and brushing clumsily at her pants, Lexie looked up and found herself gazing into the bluest eyes that she had ever laid her sights on, eyes so blue that she could see herself in them.

"You okay there?" a deep voice spoke; when she realized that she was still staring into the face of Mark Sloan. He was still holding her elbow firmly to help steady her and they were so close that she could smell his aftershave; it was spicy and pretty damn appealing.

Lexie shook her head and took a step back. She needed some space in order to think. There was just something about this man that threw her off her game and that was unusual for the always confident Lexie Grey. It must be that she was tired and stressed that were too much for her, she gathered, because there was nothing, absolutely nothing that attracted her to the playboy known as Mark Sloan. That was why he was the perfect candidate for this idea of hers in the first place.

Mark stood back and eyed the very astute Lexie Grey. She was one creature that he had yet to figure out. She was very beautiful with her dark hair that she kept pinned up in a tight bun on her head. Then she had those eyes, those dark chocolate brown eyes that were always on guard. Not only beautiful, but Grey was smart and quick on the draw.

"I'm sorry," Lexie said again seemingly back on her game.

"No problem," Mark answered her with his head slightly tilted to the side. Lexie was still standing there with her brow furrowed and it crossed his mind that maybe there was something else that she wanted.

"Would you like to join me for lunch?" Lexie busted out quickly. She was slightly taken back by the way she just blurted out the question and from the shocked look on Mark's face, he was just as surprised.

"Hmm," he said stroking his chin as if in thought. "Did you just asked me out to lunch, Dr. Grey?" He stopped stroking his chin and crossed his hands over his chest, offering her a smile that would make any other woman go weak in the knees. "What do I owe this honor?" he finally asked after a long minute of silence.

This was why Lexie didn't associate with the likes of Mark Sloan. He could be a real ass when he wanted to. All she asked was for him to join her for lunch, not for extra commentary from the peanut gallery.

She did her best to paste a forced smile on her face and mumbled out between gritted teeth, "I have a proposition for you."

Mark took in the steely features of Lexie's face. He had riled her up and he liked the way that she was trying so hard not to show it. Whatever she wanted must be good because on any other given day, he would be watching her back as she stalked away from him after the comments that he had made.

"A proposition you say?" he calmly reiterated, keeping his eyes firmly locked on hers. When she didn't flinch, Mark casually shrugged his shoulders, "What the hell, I'm game for anything and this sounds like it could be interesting. Lead the way, Grey."

* * *

Let me know what you think..


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for the reviews. I greatly appreciate your kind words..

* * *

Mark reached out in front of Lexie and opened the door. She stopped dead in her tracks and peered over at him out of the corner of her eye looking at him suspiciously. He flashed her one of his million watt smiles and simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Ladies first," he said cordially.

He had always thought that opening doors and pulling chairs out for the lady was the gentlemanly thing to do, and he considered himself to be a perfect gentleman, most of the time anyway. Although right now, he was insanely curious as to why Grey suddenly asked him to lunch. He had Lexie Grey pegged as the sort that didn't fraternize with guys like him.

Mark stayed just a couple steps behind her as they walked into the deli and took a moment to admire exactly how fine her butt was. The way that her rear end swayed with each purposeful step she took would make any red-blooded breathing man stand up and take notice, he mused. The lady sure had a confidence that radiated from her, one that even possibly rivaled his own. And that was saying something considering the size of his ego.

After walking into the deli, Lexie was feeling the overwhelming first signs of nerves settling she crazy for asking Mark Sloan to do this, to be her fake husband? She answered herself by snorting aloud at the mere absurdity of the question.

Stopping at an empty table she glanced over her shoulder at the admittedly handsome man. His cerulean blue eyes were watching her every move. He was grinning at her with a charming smile that she was certain had probably melted many women's hearts.

"What?" he finally asked her lifting a questioning brow. Lexie shook her head and took a deep breath.

"Nothing," she said curtly. Averting her gaze and flattening her mouth into a grim line. She added a stiff, "Nothing at all," before rigidly sliding into one side of the table.

Once Lexie had taken her seat, Mark slid into the seat across from her and rested his elbows on the table. He could sense that Grey had something on her mind but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why it would have anything to do with him of all people. He would have figured himself to be the last person on earth that Lexie Grey would have come to for a civil lunch conversation, not that he was complaining. Even with her astute manner and tapering gaze, Lexie Grey was definitely hot.

"So," he started and lightly tapped his fingers against the tabletop in a rhythmic beat. "Why did you want to see me?" he asked her straight out because his curiosity was getting the better of him.

Her piercing brown eyes stared back at him with such intensity that he almost buckled under the pressure. With just one look, she could almost bring a man to his knees.

"I-" Lexie said and then snapped her mouth shut when two menus were slapped on the table in front of her and a gaudy waitress stood beside them.

"What can I get you two?" the assertive waitress with the double D breast enhancement straining out of the top of her too small shirt asked, looking solely at Mark. She was smiling from ear to ear and not so subtly trying to push her chest out even further for his turned that award-winning smile on the waitress who swayed slightly before grabbing a hold of the edge of the table to steady herself.

"I would like a slow roasted roast beef and a sweet ice tea, pretty miss," he said and then winked. _who even does that anymore?_ Lexie asked herself annoyed by the situation as a whole. Rolling her eyes Lexie loudly cleared her throat, interrupting the little private conversation occurring right in front of her.

"Oriental chicken salad, please."

The waitress jotted down their orders before offering another suggestive smile to Mark. Of course, he returned it and the giddy waitress seemed to skip off happier than when she made her first appearance.

"Unbelievable," Lexie muttered when the waitress was out of earshot from the chuckled.

"You know what you need Grey?" he stated leaning over the table so that he could be closer to her. Mark didn't know why he leaned, other than the fact he had this strange desire to smell her scent.

"What?" she replied hesitantly. Lexie didn't miss the little glint that he had in his eyes, the one that had mischievously written all over it. Maybe that should have been her first warning of caution about what he was going to say next.

Mark crooked his finger in a come hither motion for Lexie to come closer. He could see that she was wary of him already and he was getting a kick out of watching her try to keep that cool façade she was so famous for.

Lexie figured what the hell and leaned in so that she was just an inch from Mark Sloan's face.

"Tell me, Sloan, what is it that I need?" she asked. And for just a moment, Mark froze at listening to the way she posed that question. Such fervid sensuality seeped out Grey that startled his thoughts unexpectedly and, truth be told, it knocked him for quite a loop.

"I'm waiting, now tell me," she breathed out, looking at him expectantly. Mark closed his eyes and easily regained his own composure.

"You need," he said and kicked up that corner of his mouth before continuing, "You need a good ole' fashion _'roll in the hay'_ so that you can pull that shoved up pole out of that pretty little ass of yours."

Lexie gasped in shock and covered her mouth. Suddenly jumping back from him she could hardly believe what he had just said.

"You did not just go there," she accused, her brown eyes wide with leaned back in his seat and laughed.

"I'm only stating the obvious, Grey," he said, struggling to contain himself. He had achieved the reaction that he wanted and was pretty pleased with himself. The look on Lexie's face was priceless. "You might want to close your mouth Lexie before a big bug flies into it," he said laughing once again.

"That's it," Lexie snapped. This was a bad idea. There was no way she could deal with a man like Mark Sloan for an entire week in Hawaii, pretending to be married of all things. She'd kill the man before they ever landed on the island. Lexie reached for her purse and stood from the chair at the same time that the waitress so conveniently returned with their order. The waitress, Lisa was her name according to the little nameplate pinned to her shirt, had a smile for Lexie now.

"Leaving so soon?" she quizzed.

Lexie reached in her purse and pulled out money slapping it on the table with more force than necessary. She shot a look over at Mark that expressed exactly how much she did not appreciate his assessment of what she needed. Who was he to tell her what she needed anyway? Heck, for all he knew she had a different man for every night of the week, she told herself. Mark Sloan was nothing but a Grade 'A' asshole.

"I need to get back to the hospital to check on my patients," she said with as much dignity as she could muster. "Maybe even go and find me some hay somewhere," she added before haughtily turning on her heel and walking away. She could hear Mark's boisterous laughter even as she hit the door and stepped back out into the midday sun.

* * *

God, what a fool I was, Lexie chided to herself walking down the hallway of the hospital. Kepner was right, she conceded, as always. Mark Sloan was a certifiable, egotistical, pompous of a breathing jerk. Thank goodness she came to her senses before she made possibly one of the biggest mistakes of her life. Just as she hit the steps to the elevator, her phone began ringing inside of her purse. Reaching in, she pulled it out, checking the caller ID. It's her Mom. This day was getting better by the minute, she thought mockingly to herself.

Sighing, she answered the phone and said, "Hi Mom," with what she hoped sounded like mild enthusiasm.

"Sweetheart, how are you?" her mother asked.

"I'm fine," she said, knowing that her tone sounded short, but Lexie's patience was hanging by a very thin thread.

"You don't sound fine dear, is something wrong?" the older Mrs. Grey asked with sincere concern one could expect from a loving mother, sometimes too loving.

"I'm fine," she reiterated. "It's just been a long day," Lexie stated as she sauntered into the doctor's lounge hastily collapsing in a comfortable chair.

"Alright, if you're sure," she said, not sounding so convinced.

"I'm sure Mom," Lexie said, trying to reassure her mother.

"Was there something you needed?" Lexie asked. She loved her mother but if she let her, her mother would go on rambling forever about nothing; and she still had research to get to do before calling it a day.

"Actually," her mom answered, "There is. I would like you to come to the house tonight for dinner. Your father's friend is coming in from Maine and he has his son…."

"Mom got to go- emergency just walked in," Lexie spoke up quickly, cutting her off. She already knew where this conversation was heading and she was so not willing to go, don't they just give it up already?

"But…" her mom tried to speak and Lexie cut her off again.

"Tell Dad I love him and I love you too, Mom, bye," she said abruptly while disconnecting the phone call.

Dropping her head on the desk in front of her she groaned. How was she going to keep thwarting all of their attempts at once? She knew that her family loved her, but they were driving her absolutely nuts.

"Excuse me," a familiar voice piped up. As soon as she heard the voice she cursed herself for not closing the door when she walked in, in the first place. Looking up she once again stared into the infamous face of Mark Sloan. He was still smiling. _'Did he ever do anything other than_ smile _?'_ she briefly pondered before sitting up only to scowl back at him.

When Lexie didn't respond Mark took the initiative and stepped in front of her. He felt bad for offending her back there at the diner and wanted to try smoothing things over just a little. They were co-workers after all.

"Um, I…I just wanted to apologize for my behavior back there," he said with sweet sincerity. "It was uncalled for."

Lexie only glared back at the man. She couldn't believe he had enough gumption to waltz in here, say sorry and expect everything to be okay. Their eyes remained locked onto each other's, when her phone began ringing again, startling her from the trance-like state. Glancing over she spotted the familiar number and mother wasn't going to give up; not today, not tonight and definitely not in Hawaii. Lexie made no moves to answer that phone call. Instead, she turned back towards the man standing in front of her.

"You're really sorry, huh?" she stated, looking for a confirmation from Mark himself.

"Yes, I am," he replied as he cocked his head to the side. "Do you want me to get on my knees and beg for your forgiveness?" he asked cheekily. Lexie sat back in her comfortable chair and crossed her hands over her chest.

"As appealing as that visual sounds, no. But…" she said and this time she offered a sly smile of her own. "Dr. Sloan, I have a proposition for you. Are you interested?"

Mark took in that smile and told himself that if he had any sense at all he should backpedal out and he should be doing it right now. But Callie had always told him that when it came to pretty women, all his good sense seemed to fly out the window, and this case was no different. Taking a step closer, Mark mimicked her stance and crossed his hands over his chest too. It was an old tactical move meant to intimidate, but it did nothing in the face of Lexie Grey.

"Alright," Mark said after a moment of audible silence. He could feel the rising tension between them mounting in the room and finally asked the million dollar question of the day. "I'll bite, Dr. Grey. Exactly what kind of proposition do you have in mind?"

* * *

...


	4. Chapter 4

Mark stood confidently with his legs and shoulders width apart; hands crossed over his chest, peering down at Lexie Grey. What kind of a proposition would Grey have to offer him? he wondered idly. He figured he would have been the last person she would turn to if she needed something. They could barely stand each other long enough to sit through a simple lunch date much less anything else.

Lexie started tapping her foot anxiously while staring back up at Mark. Her brows were furrowed and she silently debated the sanity of what she was getting ready to do. It was now or never. If she was going to ' _bite the bullet'_ so to speak, this was the time to do it. Blowing a sigh of relief, Lexie spoke.

"Dr. Sloan," she said directly pointing to the empty chair that was sitting beside him. "Why don't you have a seat?"

Mark's mouth twitched when he glanced at the chair and quickly back towards Lexie.

"I think I'll stand," he stated gruffly. "I kind of like this view from up here," he said as quiet laughter danced around in his eyes. Lexie shrugged her shoulders disturbingly.

"Alright," she said in a rather non-committal tone. "Whatever it is that floats your boat or toots your horn, more power to you."

Mark smirked before lifting his head and meeting her brown coffee colored eyes.

Lexie took notice of how studiously Mark was watching her.

"Alright, spit it out. What's this proposition that you want to discuss?"

Lexie inhaled deeply, taking in a pretty good whiff of an unforgettable fragrance, she had come to know as Mark Sloan.

"Grey," Mark called out to her again waiting for her to tell him about this proposition of sorts.

"Yea, uh…right," she began and suddenly clapped her hands together bringing her back to the heart of the matter. "How would you like, Dr. Sloan, to go to Hawaii?" she spilled out quickly. Mark couldn't help but notice her cheeks flushed a pretty pink color that actually complimented her skin tone. Then the question she asked finally registered and he did a double take.

"Hawaii?" Mark repeated the word curiously. "Why would you ask me about Hawaii?"

"Well, I have an extra ticket and all traveling expenses would be paid, so would you like to go or not?" Lexie said tensely. She couldn't understand what was so difficult about answering the question; it was a simple yes or no.

Mark narrowed his inquiring gaze on her. Something was definitely up. Lexie Grey, the one woman he knew would not come out and ask someone like him to accompany her on a trip to Hawaii without reason.

"What's the catch?" Mark asked inquisitively.

Lexie tried to play out the innocent routine. "Why does there have to be a catch?" she asked resounding offended by his question. "Can't one co-worker invite another co-worker on a trip? Think of sweltering sandy beaches, crystal blue water, and pleasant sun rays," she added, hoping to further entice him.

"No," Mark said, dragging out the word. "Not when the co-workers are you and I," he replied, deliberately pinning her with his stare. "You want to tell me what the real deal is, Dr. Grey?" Mark wasn't raised a fool. Lexie wanted something that evidently only he had. Otherwise, there was no way that she would have come to him.

Lexie sighed and glanced up at Mark. "I need a husband," she blurted out quickly, so quickly that Mark was sure he had to have misheard her.

"A what?" He jumped in a shocking reply.

Lexie scooted her way around the front of the desk leaning against it so she was left facing Mark. "I said I need a husband," she repeated with supreme confidence. "It's my sister's wedding and I need to be married or a least convince my family that I'm married so they will quit setting me up on dates with every single yahoo they find. The trip consists of all expenses paid. I know you didn't need a money coz you have a lot of those but I'll even kick in some if you can play the part convincingly enough to get my parents, as well as, the rest of my family off of my back."

Mark stared back at Lexie. She had to be jerking his chain. She could not seriously be considering him as husband material. He started to laugh, not some stifled laugh but one of those deep belly boisterous laughs. He pointed at her mockingly and shook his head. "That's rich," he said between laughs. "You…you…" he taunted with roaring laughter. "Grey needs…needs a husband?" He was beside himself squirming over the mere absurdity of the idea.

Lexie glared back at him. Mark Sloan scoffed at her as if she had just told him the world's funniest joke. This was serious business to her. If he said no, she could wind up with another Joe Blow with some irritating idiosyncrasy she wouldn't be able to tolerate. Mark had to agree with her idea, no ifs, ands or buts about it. So, she sat there quietly, waiting patiently for him to get it all out of his system.

After a few minutes, his howling laughter simmered down, as Mark strained to compose himself. Repositioning his stance, he realized Lexie was dead serious. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach. "You're not kidding, are you?" he asked her guardedly.

Lexie casually shook her head back and forth. "I'm serious like an inoperable tumor. I need a husband and I need one fast with no strings attached. You attend a few dinners, make a few other casual appearances, take me to the wedding and we pretend to be one happy couple, that's it. My parents are off my back," she said brightly. In her mind, she already had everything figured out. "You get a free trip to an exotic island where lots of women go gallivanting in tiny bikinis and I can attend my baby sister's wedding in blessed peace."

Mark was taken aback. This woman was clearly delusional. "Look, Lexie," he stated, already backing up towards the door. "I don't think I'm the man that you want for this kind of thing. I'm not the husband type of guy," he professed, still inching his way reaching for the door. "You need a good man, someone like…like Jim Nelson."

"Dr. Nelson?" Lexie cried. "The guy brings his lunch in the same recyclable bag every day and counts out his peanuts to make sure that he has exactly 22. Hell, the guy looks like from the movie 'Revenge of the Nerds!'" There was no way that she would go near him with a ten-foot pole. He even smelled like boiled eggs, she remembered, scrunching up her nose.

Mark wanted to smile at that. She had a point about Nelson. But the simple fact remained; Mark Sloan wasn't her guy. There was no way he was going to be the man she wanted him to be.

Lexie saw the indecision written all over his face. She knew that she had to talk and talk fast or he would be out of there. "It's free, Mark! Please, you have to do this. I have no other choice," Lexie begged. If he rejected her now, she didn't know what the hell she was going to do.

Mark felt for the woman. He hated to see her look so forlorn but he couldn't help her out, not in this situation. "Lex, Hawaii sounds tempting but I don't need your money and I am not the man for this job. You're a beautiful woman," he said, trying to appeal more to her common sense. "Surely you can find a more suitable guy to pretend to be married to you, even without that generous offer."

Lexie grunted. "Not someone conventional who could take the deal at face value, no strings attached." She looked up at him and reached out to touch his arm. The touch was a small thing but it was warm and almost felt as though she was branding him in some strange sort of way. It made him feel damn near uncomfortable. "Please," she said in such a saddened voice, that Mark knew he had to get out of there fast before he said something stupid like agreeing to this crazy idea of hers.

Dropping his head, Mark pulled away from her. "Look, I can't and I'm sorry," he replied and before she had the chance to say anything further, he turned around hastily and walked out of the room. He refused to turn back because he knew that if he did, he might change his mind. That was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

Lexie stood at the corner of the room and wanted nothing more than to go home, crawl into her bed and have a good cry. She had just been rejected by Mark Sloan of all people, the one man that never says no, the one man that with any other woman, he would have handily agreed. Any woman- except for her.

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	5. Chapter 5

Mark high tailed it out of the room as fast as his two feet would take him. Without looking back he dashed away from her; needing to put some much-needed space between him and the attractive brunette he left behind.

The torn look on her face when he told her _'no'_ almost undid him. He had a notion to turn around, march right back into the room and agree to her all expense paid Hawaii trip and play the sweet husband she was looking for. Luckily, his conscious overtook his urge and inadvertently kept him moving forward, taking his thoughts further away from the enticing offer and sweet temptations.

Of all the things he could have imagined her asking him to do, faking a marital relationship was nowhere near his realm of thought. She was crazy; the broad was absolutely nuts. Lexie Grey had finally gone off the deep end and even he wouldn't have been able to throw her a life preserver to bring her back in if she really thought that hiring a guy to stand in as a husband for a week was going to solve all of her problems.

Hell, he wouldn't have minded going out with her on a few dates, maybe even showing her a good time with a couple rounds in the bedroom but the forbidden "M" word was absolutely out of the question. He shuddered at the mere thought of even pretending to be a husband. It just wasn't part of his DNA makeup.

Mark Sloan would never marry and willingly tie himself down to just one woman. He enjoyed playing the field and romancing various types of women; blondes, brunettes, and redheads, he was an equal opportunity lover. That was just who he was as a person and nothing, absolutely nothing, would ever change that. Not even a _'too sexy for her own good'_ doctor that held the most dazzling chocolate brown eyes and perfectly formed hourglass figure. Nope, not even the one _Lexie Grey_.

Mark slipped into his office and closed the door firmly behind him. He could feel the onset of an impending headache already pounding at his temples. Leaning his back up against the door he relinquished a breath of air, he hadn't even realized he had been holding. Taking a minute to close his eyes, Mark sighed. That was a close one, almost to close for comfort.

Mark pushed himself away from the door and walked towards his desk.

"Oh, there you are. You have a visitor out there in the lobby," Callie suddenly came in and something in her wavering tone warned him that she was leery of this particular visitor.

This is unusual, he thought to himself. He had planned on spending the afternoon doing some skin grafting because he thought his afternoon was completely free unless there's an emergency coming. Mark looked down at his desk and double checked his calendar. Yep, he was right, there was nothing booked for today, so who on earth could be looking for him?

Confused and now suspicious himself he asked, "Who is it, Torres?"

At first, there was no answer. A short silence that seemed to put Mark more on edge than he already was after his brief encounter just minutes earlier with Lexie.

"Callie, who is it?" he repeated rather impatiently.

"It's your mother, Mark." he stilled and then audibly gulped.

"Did you just say my mother?" he said, his voice coming out with a squeak at the end.

It had been two years since he last saw his mother. She was caught up in country club appearances and overly concerned with social status acceptance. Although there were a few phone calls over the past two years, communication was distant and lacking. Why would my mother come here? he mused. Martha Sloan was not one to trivial herself with the so-called trappings of middle-class living, which only brings him back to his original question; why in the hell was she here?

"What?" Callie said interrupting his thoughts, "Should I send her in?" Mark shook his head out of his reverie.

"Um, no. Tell her I'm in surgery," he replied.

Callie's pager began to ring off. "Oops. Gotta go. You should talk to her." she trailed off, leaving the room.

Mark settles himself in his chair and locked his hands together forming a steeple shape pressed against his lips. This was turning out to be one heck of a day. First, Lexie and her left-wing proposition and now, his mother of all people showing up unannounced. This just keeps getting better and better, he sneered.

Martha Sloan waltzed into Mark's office as if she was floating atop of cloud nine. She smiled down at her son with a chivalrous motherly grin and approached the corner of his desk. Mark stood up, embraced her with constrained tenacity, and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

"Mother, this is quite a surprise," he said after releasing her, waving to the empty seat in front of his desk. "Why don't you have a seat and tell me what pleasure I owe for this visit?" Mark made sure to keep a bright smile pasted on his face the entire time, while Martha situated herself purposefully.

"Does there have to be a reason? Can a mother not drop by to see her son? I mean, its been two years since we have last seen each other and you always seem to be too busy to come and visit me, so I thought I would take matters into my own hands," Martha answered his question all in one breath. "Here I am."

Mark raised a brow. His mother was the one frequently vacationing in exotic islands and fleeing to other countries. He never could pin her down and have long since stopped trying. He's an only child and she knew how to reach him if she needed him.

"If that is the case then it is nice to see you, mother." Hovering over his desk he sincerely asked, "So, how have you been lately?" He sort of felt like a fish swimming in dangerous waters when it came to talking with his mother; Martha never did anything without a reason. The casual small talk would be safe enough for the moment. He was positive that her unexpected visit had an underlying purpose and Mark was already more than suspicious as to what it might be.

Martha Sloan folded her hands in her lap primly and straightened her posture. She looked every bit the regal woman that Mark remembered from his childhood. She breathed out slowly and started in on, "To tell you the truth son, I am a little worried."

At this point, Mark started to worry about himself. Any time his mother started with _'to tell you the truth'_ he knew there was going to be a problem.

"The simple fact is that I am not getting any younger and neither are you son. You need to get on the ball boy and get your act together. It just has been far too long." She told him sternly.

Mark drew up his brows in confusion. He's a successful doctor. He could more than easily provide for himself. He felt like he was all in all pretty well put together, so what was the problem? "What are you talking about Mother?" he asked, perplexed by the direction the conversation had turned.

Martha rolled her eyes in disdain. "Grandchildren, Mark," she told him sounding exasperated. "I want grandchildren before I am too old to do anything with them. It's about time you returned to New York and married a proper woman of status so I can have some grandchildren. One boy, one girl will do nicely."

Mark was beside himself. She did not just say what he thought she said, no freaking way. Stupefied by her request, he unbelieving looked up at his mother and nearly yelled, "What?!"

"Marriage and kids, Mark; the whole shebang. Were you even listening to a word that I just said?" Martha asked, sounding plainly annoyed now. She could have sworn that she stated everything and didn't know how to make herself any clearer than she already had.

Mark turned around and walked over to the window and made a sound somewhere between a choked chuckle and a strangled laugh. "You're joking, right? I mean you didn't come all the way here, to Seattle, only to tell me that you want grand-kids."

Martha looked at her son dumbly like he had just grown an extra head.

"No, I'm not joking," she told him seriously. "Here," she added and reached into her Louis Vuitton bag pulling out a folder. Mark turned just in time to see her plunk it down on his desk. Martha pointed at it and stated, "In here I have managed to put all of the eligible women that would be worthy of the Sloan name. I have attached their pictures as well as some other random facts about their lives, what they like and what not. All you have to do is choose, marry and impregnate one of them. It's that simple!"

No, it's not as simple as that, Mark thought to himself. He's sure that all the women in that list were snooty, high maintenance and pretentious. There was no way in hell that he would tie himself down to one of those gold digging heifers. "Mother put the folder away. I'm not marrying someone from your list," he replied dryly and walked back towards his desk.

Martha stood embittered and placed her hands on her hips. The cool composure that she was typically known for was started to slip away. "And may I ask why is that?" she demanded raising her voice.

Mark thrust his hands up in the air in sheer agitation. "Because I'm already married!"

Martha's eyes enlarged at the startling revelation, "You're what?"

Mark wanted to smack himself. Why did he just say that? There was no way he could take it back now, not after he blurted it out to his mother of all people. She looked at him with an admiring twinkle in her eye. "Who, Mark Everett Sloan? Who is the lady that you're married to?"

Mark averted his gaze to all of his medical books that lined on the shelf.

Feeling sheepish he muttered under his breath, "Lex- Lexie G-Grey."

"Lexie Grey?" Martha repeated the name seemingly deep in thought. She brought her head up and looked her son in the eye and asked, "Do I know her family? Are they the famous Grey that owned the Grey Enterprises Holdings? If so, you did well son and I can't wait to meet her."

Mark wanted to scream. Of course, that would be all that she would be concerned with; not who Lexie was as a person, but where she sat on the social hierarchy. Biting his tongue and clenching his back teeth, he ground out, "No Mom, Lexie works here and she is a doctor like me."

"Oh," she said with her lip slightly down frowning. After another minute of silence, she asked, "Well, since I didn't get an invitation to the wedding, do I even get to meet my daughter-in-law? I mean, I would like to see her and make sure my grandchildren are not going to have any oddities. I want them to be healthy if they are going to carry on the Sloan name and all."

Mark had enough. He was going to strangle his mother if she continued to talk. "She's kinda busy and she.."

She cuts him, "How about tomorrow night, dinner at Camparo's?"

"Mom, I told you she's busy. I'm busy too. We have work and.."

Martha stood up with a smile that lit up brighter than the Northern Star. "I won't take no for an answer. Say seven o'clock?"

He gave up. "Sure," he bit out already heading towards the door. He held it open and glanced back at his mother. "Now I hate to be rude, mother but I do have quite a lot of work to finish."

"Of course, now don't work too late. You need to be home with that wife of yours and work on making me some grandbabies. Remember, one boy and one girl," she told him tossing her bag on her shoulder. While passing by Mark she pecked him on the cheek and squeezed his shoulder. "Oh, I am so excited to hear this. I can't wait to meet her tomorrow. You two have a good night," she added and Mark could only smile.

She capered out of his office and he couldn't wait to close the door behind her. What in the devil's name have I gotten myself into? Mark thought to himself worriedly. He vigorously ran his fingers through his hair in agitation. Well, there is only one thing that I can do, he muttered under his breath.

Opening the door, he stuck his head out in the hall and checked to make sure that his mother was in fact gone. Confident that she had left the building, Mark scurried down the hallway as fast as he could. He needs to find Lexie.

"Have you seen Dr. Grey?" he asked Ivy, a nurse.

"I think I saw her entered the skill's lab," she answered. "So Dr. Sloan, I really had a great time with you last time and if you.." He did not let her finished. It's not the best time to flirt with a nurse right now. His mission right now is to find Lexie. So, he walked as fast as he could to the skills lab.

Lifting his hand he was about to hold the doorknob when the door suddenly swung open revealing Lexie.

For a moment his heart skipped a beat seeing her. _'What the hell is wrong with me?'_ he asked himself.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped, all of her earlier friendly co-worker pretenses now gone. She looked like she was about ready to slam the door closed in his face when Mark stepped forward and placed his hand on the door. Mark lifted the corner of his lips into what he hoped came across as an honest smile and said, "Dr. Grey, I have a proposition for you."

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6

"You've got to be kidding me," Lexie stated flatly as she stared back at a flustered looking Mark.

Less than an hour ago he couldn't get out fast enough and now he was back, standing in front of her and has the nerve to ask her of all people for a proposition of his own. Who the hell does this guy think he is? He made her look like an utter fool for crying out as she practically begged him to put on being a husband; her husband. She even offered him money for Pete's sake, like he was a slab of fresh meat that could be bought and used.

Man, Lexie mused, I might as well purchase my own ticket for the crazy train and ride it with the rest of my family for actually considering renting a husband in the form of Mark Sloan just to get them off my back.

Taking a step back, Lexie narrowed her eyes at the man standing before her.

"No—Thank you," she told him in a very calm and collected voice. It was a much different sounding voice than the desperate pleading tone she had used with him earlier. Not wanting to deal with him any longer than absolutely necessary, Lexie pasted a fake smile on her face. "Nice talking to you," she stated and promptly went to shut the door in his face, but Mark was quick on the draw and stuck his monster size foot in the way to block it.

She lifted her eyes to Mark and arched a brow. "Do you mind?" she asked, pointing at his foot which so obviously remained in her way.

Mark smirked. She was most certainly riled up something fierce and for some odd reason, he found her to be rather adorable in this state with her face set just so. It was the wrinkled forehead and the slightly curved mouth pouting into an almost perfectly shaped "O", neither of which went unnoticed by him. He could almost see himself kissing her succulent lips. That would have to wait until later though, he told himself. Right now he needed a wife and fast, preferably, Dr. Lexie Grey.

Crossing his hands over his chest, Mark stepped forward pushing his larger than life body into the skills lab. "As a matter of fact, I do mind," he said challengingly.

Lexie hesitated and took a few steps back. "Well...l," she stuttered and then stumbled backward awkwardly. "Well, get over it," she snapped. "I have things to do and patients to see," she added as she tried to shoulder past him. "None of which involves you."

Mark stuck his hands out and grasped her shoulders pulling her to a halt. "Not so fast, Dr. Grey, I patiently listened to your proposition. I think you should at least give me the same courtesy."

Mark Sloan is here just to rub her face in her own shame, didn't he; because that's what guys like him do. That was the exact reason she didn't want to get married. Men were imbeciles that only looked out for their number one; themselves. Well, Lexie was looking out for her now number one; herself.

Lexie lifted her head, cheeks flushed and nostrils flaring out wide. She looked like a baby wildcat ready to scratch his eyes out right about now. "Excuse me, Dr. Sloan; I don't have to do a damn th-,"

Mark wanted to grin but thought better of it considering the situation. Instead, he held his hands up, palms facing out in a surrender-like gesture cutting her off mid-sentence. "Will you please just shut up and hear out your future husband for a minute?"

Two words seemed to break through her fury at once. _Future husband?_ Lexie stared up into the piercing eyes of Mark Sloan.

"What did you just say?"

This time Mark let the grin spread wide on his face. "I said your future husband," he clarified slower for her this time in a deep-toned voice.

Lexie froze; she must be dreaming. She shook her head in an effort to clear it and then starred back up at him. "You want to run that bit by me again?"

Mark tossed his head back and laughed at her dumbstruck expression. One minute she was a feisty little hellcat and the next she was as meek as a kitten.

"Listen, I will do this Hawaii thing for you and you won't have to pay me a dime. Instead, I need you to do me a favor."

Lexie's mind started to whirl about a hundred miles a minute. He did say that he wanted a favor in return. She could only imagine what type of favor a man like the cunning and resourceful Mark Sloan would want from her.

"What exactly is this favor?" she asked cautiously. Her mouth twitched a little at the corner bringing Mark's attention to how plump and tempting those pink lips of hers could really be.

Clearing his throat, Mark straightened himself and stared her in the eyes. "I need you to be my wife."

"O-Okay," she said slowly. There has to be more to it than that. Obviously, she would be his wife, all in pretend of course.

Mark cleared his throat again and this time looked a little more uncomfortable. "I mean, I need you to be my wife in front of my mother."

Lexie sat down in the chair that was just behind her. This was good. This was really good, she mused sarcastically. "Your mother, huh?" she asked chuckling to herself.

Mark averted his gaze. This part of the conversation was the part that made him a little more compromising. Rubbing his palms on the side of his legs, in an effort to dry them, he tried to smile.

"Yeah, she has it in her head now that she suddenly wants grand-babies, one boy and one girl to be exact." He snorted at the memory of her stating that little fact back in his office. "She had all but demanded that I should marry one of those stuck up debutantes back at home and there is no way that I can do that. No freaking way. So…" he reverted his mien and glanced up at Lexie with her immobilized gaze, "I sort of already told her that I was married and now…now I need a wife."

Lexie wanted to laugh at the sudden irony of the situation.

"You," she said pointing at him, "Need a wife?"

Mark nodded eagerly, thankful that she seemed to understand the situation.

Lexie sat in the chair for a moment drumming her fingers on the armrest and thought about it. This could be the perfect answer to both of their problems; they would ultimately hit two birds with one stone. One fake marriage equals two happy families. What could possibly go wrong?

Mark was sweating it out as he stood in front of Lexie. What could be so hard about making this decision? She wanted a pretend husband and here he was offering her one on a silver platter. They both could play the happily married couple and they both win by getting overzealous parents off their backs. What could possibly go wrong?

Standing up, Lexie held out her hand to Mark. "Alright, deal," she said, smiling sweetly.

Mark smiled back in return feeling like a lead weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Alright," he agreed, taking her smaller hand in his much larger one. Being this close to Lexie he couldn't help but notice the bright shimmer of her lip gloss coating those tempting lips that had been taunting him all afternoon. "How about we seal the deal with a kiss?"

Before Lexie could protest a demanding mouth came crashing down on hers. At first, she was taken by surprise at his boldness but quickly succumbed to the tenderness as he coaxed her into sweet oblivion.

If felt so right even though Lexie knew in the back of her head it was so wrong. She knew that she should stop Mark from devouring her so wholly, but for the life of her, she couldn't find it in her to pull away. It was just too good.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Both Mark and Lexie jumped apart and stared at the door where April Kepner was frowning at the pair.

Mark was grinning away looking very much like a sly Cheshire cat and stated boldly, "Yes."

At the same time, Lexie looked like a petulant child being caught red-handed with her hand in the cookie jar squealing, "No!"

April lifted a questioning brow and then shook her head in disbelief. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she spoke directly to Lexie and then shuffled back out of the room closing the door behind her.

Lexie watched her friend leave and for a second wondered if she was making a terrible mistake. Lifting her fingers she touched her swollen lips that still tingled from his kiss. Nah, she told herself. She had this situation completely under control. It wouldn't be a problem at all whatsoever. _'I can handle Mark Sloan'_ , she said to herself.

The sound of her beeper buzzing pulled Lexie's attention back to reality.

She was startled at the sound and turned to Mark who was staring at her intently. Blushing brighter than a ripened tomato she quickly turned away exiting the room leaving Mark alone.

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	7. Chapter 7

Traffic was picking up as the five o'clock hour approached and people were leaving their jobs to go had been one heck of a day all the way around and Lexie was really looking forward to going had already made plans that started with running herself a relaxing bubble bath and maybe even opening up the vintage Bordeaux.

Mark is waiting for Lexie in the parking lot. He watched Lexie as she walks over to her car. It looks like she still hasn't noticed him.

Looking up she met the piercing eyes of Sloan. "Why are you stalking me?"

"Me? Stalking you? No," a slow grin spread on his face.

"Then why are you here?" she asked him, sounding both tired and exasperated.

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"About our kiss?" he said teasingly.

Lexie gasped in shock, not believing that he waited for her in the parking lot just to talk about _the kiss_. "You're unbelievable."

Seeing Lexie's reaction, Mark did what he did best; he baited her. "But you do think I'm hot," he replied teasingly. Lexie threw him a look that would have warned any normal minded person to keep their mouth shut.

"I bet you think I'm sexy too," he added moving closer to her now. This time Lexie completely ignored him and if he had any sense at all he would have stopped himself right there. Now, he was standing right behind her, so close that he caught her sweet scent when he leaned down to her ear and whispered huskily, "And judging the way that you responded to my kiss, I would bet my life Dr. Grey, that you want me too."

Not thinking, only reacting, Lexie reared back her elbow and jammed it with force it into his stomach. _How dare him to say that?_

Mark grabbed his stomach and tried his damnedest not to double over. For such a small thing, she sure had some kick to her punch. Sucking in a breath, he blew it back out through his teeth before straightening himself back up to his full height.

"So," he drawled out slowly, still rubbing out the soreness in his gut, "I would take that as an affirmative?" It was more of a statement than a question and the playful twinkle he held in his eyes set Lexie off again.

This time Lexie pasted on a sickly sweet smile."You know Dr. Sloan, maybe you're right. Maybe I do want you," she stated and closed the little distance that was between them.

Mark's eyes widened in surprise. This, he was not expecting."R-really?"

The two of them were now standing in front of each other, face to face when Lexie suddenly lifted her foot and brought it down with a vengeance on Sloan's toes."I want you about as much as I would want a case of freaking herpes."

Mark immediately hopped back and cursed."Damn it woman, you need some serious anger management courses!" Taking a step back. "That hurts," he grumbled like a little child and then sent her a cursory glance before returning his attention back to his throbbing toes.

"Good," she snapped."It was meant to hurt." Lexie then stepped away to walk to her car.

"Hey, wait. We need to talk." Catching up with her. "Don't you think a husband and wife should know a few things about each other before they were introduced to the family?"

Lexie let out a dramatic huff. "We have a week to iron out the details. Right now, I just want to go home, if you don't mind."

His toe was still a little sore but he would live. "Alright, whose home are we going to wifey, yours or mine?"

She was already shaking her head back and forth, "Oh, no, no, no you don't! I'm going to my home and you can go to yours, Mark. I have had quite enough of you today, thank you very much."

"No can do, Lex. See, we have a dinner date with my mother tomorrow and if either of us is going to pull off this shenanigan of ours, we both need a crash course on each other."

Mark's amusement was written all over his face, whereas Lexie felt like the proverbial bomb had just been dropped on her. This entire marriage charade had seemed perfect before in her mind's eye, but now, now that they would have their first performance tomorrow night? It wasn't looking like such a great idea after all.

"Tomorrow?" she croaked out, hoping - praying - that she had misheard him.

"Tomorrow," he repeated not missing a beat.

Lexie covered her face with her hands. This was it; she had to either jump in head first and swim for her life or just sink to the bottom altogether. What would it be?

Lexie had never been a quitter in the past and she wasn't about to start being one now. Both Mark and Lexie were reasonably smart adults. They could pull this off with a little effort and everyone would be happy in the end, his mom and her family.

* * *

Mark walked into his apartment and lightly tossed his keys on the table. Going through his mail, his thoughts flitted back to the highly amusing encounter he had with Lexie today. A slow grin spread on his face as he recalled the memory. There was just something about that woman that made him want to tease her. He liked seeing her when she was all hot and bothered and was actually looking forward to their little meeting later tonight. It was sure to be an experience of sorts.

Lexie was a feisty little thing and he could only imagine how that fiery temper of hers would transfer into the bedroom. He bet she was one of those that liked to take control there too and he was more than willing to hand the reins over to her and let her lead them to oblivion.

 _Woah, what am I thinking?_ He suddenly asked himself knowing that he needed to quickly derail this line of his mail back on the counter, he frowned at where his thoughts seemed to be so determined to take most definitely did not want to be going down that road, especially with Lexie. Sexual tension would not suit well for professionalism between the two of them.

They had made a deal. A deal that they both would surely benefit from if all went according to plan. It was a good deal and all he had to do was play a part. Once it was finished, then they would go back to just being plain old co-workers once again. They had to maintain a civility between them and that was it, nothing more.

Feeling a little better about the situation, he started to strip off his clothing as he headed off to take a shower. They would put on their little show and that would be it. Lexie would finally get her family off of her back and his mom would get the asinine notion of him marrying some high maintenance woman out of her mind too. Simple, right?

* * *

Lexie walked into her apartment thinking that she must have lost her damn mind for agreeing to meet with Sloan tonight, she mused, in her apartment no less. How can one man have the capacity to irritate her so easily on every level that he always seems to do?

He also had an ego, the size of the Titanic and she had just the thing to sink that ship before it ever even began to sail. She felt pretty good about the few pot shots she had gotten off him earlier today. His toes were still probably feeling the wrath of her foot.

Mark stood in front of Lexie's door and hesitated for a minute before he finally rung the doorbell. He was holding two piping hot pizzas in his hands and had resigned himself to make this meeting as business-like as possible.

This was an informative meeting so that when they had dinner with his mother tomorrow night, they would truly seem like a perfect married couple, an _odd couple_ that is.

Lexie opened the door and there stood Sloan in a nicely fitted pair of denim blue jeans, a polo shirt, and black leather jacket. With his perfect hair framing his face. She quickly turned away from him when she realized that she looks like she's totally checking him out.

More irritated with herself than anything else, she spoke to him in a short tone. "Come on, let's hurry up and get this over with."

Mark smirked but wisely kept his mouth shut and followed her in. Her apartment was nice; everything was neatly placed and tidy, unlike his place. He followed her into the kitchen and sat the pizza down the table.

Turning around he faced her and lean against the counter to studied her for a moment or rather drooled over her.

"So, where do you want to start?"

Mark blinked looking a little confused. "Start?" he asked.

Rolling her eyes, she added, "Yeah, start. You know family history, how we actually got hitched in the first place, and our story. What are we going to tell everyone?"

He then realized what she meant and walked over to the fridge to pulled out some beers. He handed her one before taking a seat.

Diving into the box, she pulled out a slice of pizza and looked at it appreciatively. "So, what now?" she asked and then looked back up at Mark while simultaneously taking a bite out of the pizza; letting the cheese stretch between her mouth and the pizza that she still held in her hand.

Mark stilled with the beer poised at his mouth as he watched Lexie bite into the pizza. The way that the cheese stretched and hung off of her lips was mesmerizing. It was the most seductive sight he had ever experienced and that innocent sight made him want her more.

Throwing his head back, he closed his eyes tightly to try and rid himself of the heated image and guzzled the beer. _No!_ He told himself. _Get your mind out of the gutter and focus on the plan._ Plan. That was why they were there for.

Plopping his now empty can on the table with a thud, Lexie quit chewing her pizza and lifted a questioning brow in his direction."Thirsty?" she asked curiously.

Mark reached over and grabbed another beer, pulling back the tab and opening it up. Yeah, he was thirsty alright but not in the way she was thinking and he wasn't about to tell her that either. "A little," he said smiling tightly and then reached over the box reaching for a slice of pizza.

Determined to get through this in a professional manner, he started, "Okay, let's start with the family members."

They exchanged pieces of information about their families.

"Hmm..." Mark thought to himself as he chewed the last bit of his pizza. "What about how we met, how we suddenly got hitched?"

Lexie looked in the other direction and for a moment thought about what would be truly believable, not that anything really would be. It was going to take a lot of convincing to pull this one off, especially with her navy seal father. Earlier, she envisioned they could cop up a story about one of those quickie Vegas Weddings but the _'when'_ and the _'how'_ of it was the hard part.

"Well, we could just say we got married in Vegas..." she started and then scratched at her temple leaving the rest of the statement open.

"Alright," Mark agreed. "Now the question that they are all going to be asking; why?"

Lexie shrugged her slim shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. For a moment, Mark felt like he was a deer caught in headlights, he couldn't look away; he didn't even want to look away.

Finally, Lexie broke the connection and glanced down at the table."Well..."

Sloan mulled it over for a minute while taking another swig of his beer. Then it hit him. He placed the now empty can on the table and smiled back at Lexie. "I got it," he told her.

Lexie's head snapped up. "You do?" she asked, trying to mask her excitement.

"Yep," he said cheerfully. "Pregnant."

Lexie's mouth dropped. "What?"

He laughed out loud. "You're pregnant. Why else would two serious career minded people such as ourselves rush out and do a quickie wedding? It's believable, even for a guy like me."

She was already shaking her head back and forth. "I can't lie about being pregnant. That's stupid. We can fake a marriage but we can't fake a baby."

He let out a sigh. "Okay fine. How about you love me too much that you couldn't bear the idea of waiting any longer to be my wife. So you dragged me to Vegas and got hitched. Believable, right?"

All Lexie thinking about is how she really wanted to smack Mark Sloan right now. _Oh God, what did I get myself into?_

* * *

...


End file.
